Leadership development is the core of the Movement and is the thread that is woven through everything a girl experiences in Girl Scouts. The Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards are the epitome of this leadership and set age appropriate standards for the highest achievements at various levels.

Bronze Award
The Girl Scout Bronze Award, the highest honor a Junior Girl Scout, ages 9-11, can earn, requires her to learn the leadership and planning skills necessary to follow through on a project that makes a positive impact on her community. Working towards this award demonstrates her commitment to helping others, improving her community and the world, and becoming the best she can be. 

Girls may work on the award individually or in a group. All of the requirements for the Bronze Award must be met before leaving Junior Girl Scouts. However, earning a Bronze Award is not a prerequisite for the Girl Scout Silver Award (for Girl Scouts 11-14) or the Girl Scout Gold Award (for Girl Scouts 14-17).

• Bronze Award Guidelines for Girl Scout Juniors
• Bronze Award Adult Volunteer Guide

Silver Award
The Girl Scout Silver Award is the highest earned award for Girl Scouts ages 12-14, the second highest in Girl Scouting.  Girls may begin to work on the prerequisites when they have bridged from Juniors, are in 6th grade or above and are at least 11 years old.  To begin work on the project itself, girls must be 12-14 or in grades 7-9. Silver Award projects must be completed by September 30 of the girl's sophomore year in high school.

The basic elements of the award are life skills including leadership development, career exploration, self-development and service. This is not a competition but another path girls may choose to help strengthen their community and themselves. Earning the Silver Award is an individual decision made by each girl and can be a group/troop or individual project. The Silver Award is not required for the Gold Award.

• Silver Award Guidelines for Girl Scout Cadettes
• Silver Award Adult Volunteer Guide

Gold Award
The Gold Award is the highest honor a girl can achieve in Girl Scouting. The culmination of the Gold Award focuses on a project which exemplifies the courage, confidence and character of the individual. The successful Gold Award is a significant challenge and your opportunity to make the world a better place in an area that is personally meaningful for you. You'll learn about project management from the inside and how one person can definitely make a difference.

On Sunday, May 2, 2010, the Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia, Inc., awarded 16 teens with the prestigious Girl Scout Gold Award at awards ceremonies throughout the council's jurisdiction.

• Gold Award Guidelines for Girl Scout Seniors/Ambassadors
• Gold Award Adult Volunteer Guide
• Gold Award Project Proposal
• Gold Award Final Report

The Girl Scout Gold Award Recipients for 2010 are:

Kristin Bell (Watkinsville, GA)
Kristen led and implemented the design and construction of an outdoor seating area and stacked stone landscape retaining walls and gardens at her church, Antioch Christian Church, in Watkinsville, Georgia. 

Ash Lee Brown (Midway, GA)
Ash Lee worked with the project manager at an afterschool facility for children in low income housing to renovate the facility and  improve the tutoring program, now called “Kid’s Kafe”.  She was also able to obtain a donation of several computers with current software from the county Board of  Education and donations of additional educational materials for the facility.

Hailey Carlisle (Milledgeville, GA)
Hailey developed a brochure that informs people of the resources for horses/riders in this area.  The issues addressed in the brochure are clubs, veterinarians,  ferriers, trainers, horse breeding, feed/hay, tack, clothing/wear, sales and horse sitting. 

Helen Clark (Woodbine, GA)
Helen founded an Interact Club at her local high school in collaboration with two local Rotary Clubs to deliver over 20,000 medical items which were sent to a hospital in Papoi, Uganda. She also launched a campaign to educate others in her community on poverty, disease, nutrition and economic struggles that develop locally and globally.

Elizabeth Crofts (Richmond Hill, GA)
Elizabeth worked with her local United Way, the Youth Advisory Council, her high school’s Beta Club and a women’s church group to create a “Teen Corner” which offers gently used clothing and prom dresses at very low prices for girls who may not be able to afford the expense of a formal dress.

Laura Leigh Fox (Watkinsville, GA)
Laura Leigh designed and ran a yearlong once a week afterschool program at an elementary school in Athens based on developing healthy eating habits and encouraging exercise. 

Elizabeth French (Hoschton, GA)
Liz created a sustainable program that promotes healthy lifestyles through the coordination of community partners, resources and ideas, for a group of middle school girls.  Her goal was to improve the nutritional and physical activity behaviors of these girls, and she did this by hosting weekly club meetings which incorporated speakers, field trips and various enjoyable activities.

Tracy Giza (Kathleen, GA)
Tracy chose to perform a project to help the community understand the requirements and responsibilities of pet ownership through adoption. She worked with the Deputy Chief of Police at the City of Perry Police department and other personnel responsible for animal control and pet adoption for Perry.

Jessica Hayman (Savannah, GA)
Jessica established an audiobook library at a local hospital to address the lack of diversionary activities available to hospitalized patients.

Jessica Leach (Monroe, GA)
Jessica researched and produced two videos on relational aggression for use in the public schools of Walton County.  She interviewed several trusted experts in her community about the warning signs of abusive relationships, and the videos encourage children and teens to speak an adult they trust if they suspect that they are a victim in an abusive situation. 

ReBecca Mann (Flowery Branch, GA)
Becca created an extensive resource book for service groups to use when they visit senior citizen homes to do service.   She then organized regular visitations to senior citizen homes by several different church youth groups and Girl Scout groups.        

Lara Mengak (Watkinsville, GA)
Lara organized the building of a beginner mountain bike trail at a county park.  She was able to design and build a mile and a half trail for beginners as well as more advanced riders to enjoy, with the help of the county, the local bicycle club, and family and friends.  

Paloma Mercado (Savannah, GA)
Paloma worked with the Humane Society, local veterinarians and the American Veterinary Association to host a rabies clinic and she secured the rabies vaccine, microchip kits (for use in identifying pets), all associated equipment and educational brochures.

Sarah Nish (Gainesville, GA)
Sarah helped her church’s extensive library by updating the card catalogs, and by organizing the church’s youth to update and preserve the many historic  photo albums and scrapbooks in the church’s collection.

Sonja Salter (Savannah, GA)
Sonja organized a community-wide campaign to provide soft fleece blankets and pillows for the children in several local pediatric hospitals.

Hillary Thompson (Vidalia, GA)
A passionate advocate for donating blood, Hillary worked with the American Red Cross in her community to set up 2 very successful blood drives during the time of the year when blood is most needed. Her service unit has agreed to make the blood drive that Hillary initiated in her community an annual event.